NEW YORK, NY – The United Nations’ (UN) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today revealed that its staff who visited Poland between November 29 to December 3 was denied access by Poland to the restricted border area between Poland and Belarus. The UN team sought to visit the area to assess conditions for migrants. They also reported that Belarus would not allow them into the country.

According to OHCHR’s spokeswoman Liz Throssell, “Belarus regrettably did not accept our request to visit.” In November, several thousand people fleeing from Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan became stranded at this border, with European Union (EU) member states refusing to provide access and protection.

In light of this news, Sarah Costa, executive director of the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) issued the following statement:

“Denying access to a team from the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights presents a new low in the unacceptable treatment of refugees and migrants by the governments of Poland and Belarus. For weeks, we have been hearing reports of pushbacks, abuses by border guards, including family separations, horrible conditions of people freezing in the cold, and journalists being denied access. Just last month, a one-year-old Syrian refugee child died in a forest in Poland.

“We call on the European Union’s member states to immediately stop abuses and respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the right to seek asylum. People are in critical need of shelter and protection, including medical care, as well as food and water. The past several months have been dominated by aggressive rhetoric from countries, failure to ensure the right to seek asylum, while ignoring the humanitarian needs of those on the border. How many children have to die at Europe’s borders before politicians act?”

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